Research Interests
PhD project Avoiding research waste: addressing unit of analysis errors in trials and systematic reviews in Eyes and Vision - Clinicians and patients need access to up-to-date high quality research to make evidence-informed decisions about health care. Systematic reviews are a rigorous approach to identifying, appraising and synthesising the results of individual studies. Systematic review authors cannot always use all the data available in individual studies because of the way that studies are reported, including unit of analysis issues, leading to avoidable research waste. The aim of this proposal is to explore the nature and extent of unit of analysis errors in trials and systematic reviews in Eyes and Vision, investigate the impact on the results of systematic reviews and develop solutions and guidance for trialists and systematic review authors. This will be an important contribution to the quality of evidence in this field. Despite the fact that unit of analysis issues are widely acknowledged, an assessment of how common these concerns are in Eyes and Vision systematic reviews is lacking and few studies have been conducted in general. Thus, investigating the extent and the impact of errors concerning UAIs in trials and reviews is important to quantify the impact of this type of bias and minimise research waste.